The Bible
Reviews Summary Your Computer Issue 10 Writer: Eric Deeson We had occasion to speak with some disdain in January about Can Of Worms, a cassette of "adult" 1K games whose source is now identified as Automata Cartography. At £3, Love And Death is another collection of disgusting programs. The target of this company's third cassette is God — the Bible costs £5 for 10 programmed blasphemies. C+VG Issue 8 Have you heard any claps of thunder recently? It could be that someone in your area has bought a copy of The Bible. Not the authorised version or ever the New English but the version according to Automata — and in doing so has angered the almighty! The Bible is an irreverent look at some of the happenings in that epic story. The extracts are illustrated by games played on the ZX81 computer. There are ten games and all of them are within 1K of memory. Don't just load the games though. Unplug the ear lead and listen to the story recorded on the tape. The nearest I can come to describing it is a version of Not the Nine O'Clock News on tape. The characters on the soundtrack will tell you when and how to load the programs which supplement the text. But what of the programs? As I said they are all 1K and of necessity, therefore, limited. Most of them I have seen before in one form or another. I did find one or two quite amusing. Goliath's soft spot is no longer his forehead but somewhere lower down and almost as painful. You can also bring down the plague on the Pharaohs head and free the slaves. Save Jonah from the sea monster by directing the whale to him fast. Stop the Ark from sinking or tempt Adam away from the evil ZX81. If you have just bought a ZX81 then this tape will provide some amusement. The same might apply if you have a warped sense of humour. Otherwise I can find little of any value in it for those of you looking for original games software. The Bible is available from Automata Cartography for £5.00. Popular Computing Weekly Issue 5 Writer: KJ Surely one can get Automata under the Trade Descriptions Act? 'First Edition' is the subtitle of this third cassette of its 'adult games' for the 1K ZX81. But I'm sure I've come across the name before — there's a book of the same name, I think. The Bible costs more than two earlier cassettes. Perhaps this is to ensure that only adults (and not clergymen) buy it. However, we now get 10 programs instead of eight, and the quality has improved significantly. "Quality' in more than one sense. For a start, the programming is better - the screen is used more effectively, and graphics are generally impressive (for 1K). The other kind of quality concerns adultness. The two earlier cassettes tended to be so crude (sex-wise) that even broad-minded viewers found them intolerable. The Bible is still for adults, but it is humorous rather than crude and only a bit bawdy in places. The 10 programs themselves are nearly all addictive. They deal with such matters as 'Adam and Eve' (a battle between God + angels and the Tree + devils to get Adam's soul); 'Plagues' (get each one to land on Pharaoh's head as he dodges to and fro); and Jonah' (your task, as the whale, is to swallow J before the sea serpent gets him). Automata has polished its audio commentary too (it's been a unique and effective feature of each cassette). With an excellent range of relevant sound effects, we hear such bits as 'and God said, "Noah, get thou thy wellie boots". I hope all these forms of improvement continue, and look forward to Automata's next 1K cassette. Summary Ten interactive 1K games, almost all good and well-documented, plus neat audio 'atmospherics'. Bible Bible Bible Bible Bible